Iron Man

The film ‘Iron Man’ opened Friday and I will admit that I’ve been waiting eagerly to see it. Being a self-confessed Comic Book Geek that’s not surprising. I spent my childhood reading the latest
editions of Conan the Barbarian, Justice League of America and Superman. Iron Man wasn’t one of my favorites, but when it comes to summer blockbuster movies any comic book hero calls to me.

The director, Jon Favreau, has done a great job of giving us a complex and believable lead character in Tony Stark. Stark is a genius, the son of one of the men that worked on the Manhatten Project. He inherited his father’s arms manufacturing business at an early age and has designed most of the weapons it sells. His reputation as a womanizing, hard drinking, spoiled playboy has gained him celebrity as his face adorns the covers of magazines like Time and Newsweek.

On a business trip to Afghanistan to promote his new bomb, the Jericho, Tony is taken hostage by terrorists using, ironically, his own weapons bought on the black market. Held for three long months, he is forced to build a bomb for them from bits and peices of other arms they have available. Seeing for himself first hand the actual face of war, death and destruction that his business is indirectly causing creates a significant change in our hero. After escaping from his captors, he announces that his company will no longer sell armaments. His friends, business partners and even his personal assistant/love interest, Pepper Potts, all question his
unlikely change of heart and new-found conscience.

In secret, Tony builds a suit of metal that he uses as a weapon to help in his vigilante efforts to find the terrorists that held him and attempt to undo some of the damage he feels his weapons are responsible for. He just begins his crusade to help others when he is blindsided by problems closer to home and the real action begins.

This movie is not for children; torture, realistic war scenes and violence made me wonder how they managed a PG-13 rating. It is a mature film that will appeal to adults with its character development and is paced accordingly, it’s not just a roller coaster ride like ‘Transformers’ or ‘Die Hard’. Expect to enjoy yourself immensely, but don’t leave your brain at home, there’s plenty here to keep it busy despite the action and special effects.